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Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976] Written by bluesever Thursday, 22 October 2009 11:03 - Last Updated Thursday, 03 October 2013 14:44 Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976] 1. Polonaise No.1 in C sharp minor, Op.26 No.1 8:28 2. Polonaise No.2 in E flat minor, Op.26 No.2 8:36 3. Polonaise No.3 in A, Op.40 No.1 - "Military" 5:27 4. Polonaise No.4 in C minor, Op.40 No.2 8:06 5. Polonaise No.5 in F sharp minor, Op.44 10:55 6. Polonaise No.6 in A flat, Op.53 -"Heroic" 7:06 7. Polonaise No.7 in A flat, Op.61 Polonaise-Fantaisie 13:13 Maurizio Pollini – piano  Here is Pollini in all his early glory. His magnificently unsettling Chopin can be as imperious and unarguable as any on record. That his performances are also deeply moving is a tribute to his unique status. Here is Pollini in all his early glory, in performances expertly transferred from 1976. Shorn of all virtuoso compromise or indulgence, the majestic force of his command is indissolubly integrated with the seriousness of his heroic impulse. Never have I been compelled into such awareness of the underlying malaise beneath the outward and nationalist defiance of the Polonaises. The tension and menace at the start of No. 2 are almost palpable, its storming and disconsolate continuation made a true mirror of Poland’s clouded history. The C minor Polonaise’s denouement, too, emerges with a chilling sense of finality, and Pollini’s way with the pounding audacity commencing at 3'00'' in the epic F sharp minor Polonaise is like some ruthless prophecy of every percussive, anti-lyrical gesture to come. At 7'59'' Chopin’s flame-throwing interjections are volcanic indeed, and if there is ample poetic delicacy and compensation (notably in the Polonaise-fantaisie, always among Chopin’s most profoundly speculative masterpieces), it is the more elemental side of his genius, his ‘canons’ rather than ‘flowers’ that are made to sear and haunt the memory. To say that Pollini is ‘cold’ (a recent jury colleague; his exact description seemed to me as blinkered as it was unprintable) is to miss the point, to show an incapacity to identify with ‘other 1 / 2

Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976]theblues-thatjazz.com/.../627-fredericchopin/1408-polonaisepollini.pdf · Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976] Written by

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Page 1: Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976]theblues-thatjazz.com/.../627-fredericchopin/1408-polonaisepollini.pdf · Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976] Written by

Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976]

Written by blueseverThursday, 22 October 2009 11:03 - Last Updated Thursday, 03 October 2013 14:44

Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976]

1. Polonaise No.1 in C sharp minor, Op.26 No.1 8:28 2. Polonaise No.2 in E flat minor,Op.26 No.2 8:36 3. Polonaise No.3 in A, Op.40 No.1 - "Military" 5:27 4. Polonaise No.4 in Cminor, Op.40 No.2 8:06 5. Polonaise No.5 in F sharp minor, Op.44 10:55 6. Polonaise No.6 inA flat, Op.53 -"Heroic" 7:06 7. Polonaise No.7 in A flat, Op.61 Polonaise-Fantaisie 13:13 Maurizio Pollini – piano

 

Here is Pollini in all his early glory. His magnificently unsettling Chopin can be as imperious andunarguable as any on record. That his performances are also deeply moving is a tribute to hisunique status.

Here is Pollini in all his early glory, in performances expertly transferred from 1976. Shorn of allvirtuoso compromise or indulgence, the majestic force of his command is indissolubly integratedwith the seriousness of his heroic impulse. Never have I been compelled into such awarenessof the underlying malaise beneath the outward and nationalist defiance of the Polonaises. Thetension and menace at the start of No. 2 are almost palpable, its storming and disconsolatecontinuation made a true mirror of Poland’s clouded history. The C minor Polonaise’sdenouement, too, emerges with a chilling sense of finality, and Pollini’s way with the poundingaudacity commencing at 3'00'' in the epic F sharp minor Polonaise is like some ruthlessprophecy of every percussive, anti-lyrical gesture to come. At 7'59'' Chopin’s flame-throwinginterjections are volcanic indeed, and if there is ample poetic delicacy and compensation(notably in the Polonaise-fantaisie, always among Chopin’s most profoundly speculativemasterpieces), it is the more elemental side of his genius, his ‘canons’ rather than ‘flowers’ thatare made to sear and haunt the memory.

To say that Pollini is ‘cold’ (a recent jury colleague; his exact description seemed to me asblinkered as it was unprintable) is to miss the point, to show an incapacity to identify with ‘other

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Page 2: Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976]theblues-thatjazz.com/.../627-fredericchopin/1408-polonaisepollini.pdf · Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976] Written by

Frederic Chopin – Polonaises (Pollini) [1976]

Written by blueseverThursday, 22 October 2009 11:03 - Last Updated Thursday, 03 October 2013 14:44

points of view’, with possibilities that lie at the very heart of re-creation. Others may be moreoutwardly beguiling (Pollini is already a wide step from Rubinstein’s belle epoque elegance orHorowitz’s reminder of Russian romantic pianism at its most volatile) but Pollini’s magnificentlyunsettling Chopin can be as imperious and unarguable as any on record. That his performancesare also deeply moving is a tribute to his unique status. --- Bryce Morrison, Gramophone[2/1999]

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